Turkey: Decree grants president more power

File photo shows a Turkish special forces police officer standing guard at the entrance of the Presidential Palace in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Turkey has issued a decree, giving more power to the president as the country moves towards adopting a full-fledged presidential system.

The Official Gazette announced the decree on Wednesday. The decree closes down the prime minister’s office and changes “references to the prime minister and cabinet of ministers to the president and the president’s office.”

It has also enabled President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to bypass the parliament in forming and regulating ministries and removing civil servants.

The laws changed by the decree had been in effect since 1924.

Last year, the public took part in a referendum, voting in favor of changing the country’s ruling mechanism from a parliamentary system to a presidential one.

The country has been implementing the changes, which are needed to bring in the new system, since June 24, when Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party claimed victory in presidential and parliamentary elections.

Critics accuse Erdogan of trying to monopolize all power since July 2016, when the government survived a coup.

Ankara has either arrested or expelled hundreds of thousands of civil servants since the putsch, which it blames on Fetullah Gulen, a United States-based clergyman and the president’s archfoe.